Colchester shrugged off the loss of manager Paul Lambert to Norwich by coming from behind to beat Gillingham.
Caretaker boss Joe Dunne saw them fall behind early when John Nutter cut the ball back for Curtis Weston to tap in.
Colchester equalised before half-time through Scott Vernon, who swept home confidently from Kevin Lisbie's cross.
The hosts scored the winner midway through the second half when Vernon set up Lisbie to fire home and keep the U's top of the league.
Colchester United's caretaker manager Joe Dunne told BBC Essex:
"Any night when you're top of the league is a great one.
"I thought the fans were fantastic and more importantly I thought the players were excellent - especially in the second half.
"We're top of the league, so we'll take that, but we'll still be humble as there's a long way to go."
Gillingham manager Mark Stimson told BBC Radio Kent:
"We came here to win, we didn't win. It was unfortunate again."
"We scored a great goal first goal - worked the ball well. But then unfortunately we gave them a goal, like we did Saturday, and you can't give teams goal because you're not going to win matches."
Live text and stats
Tuesday, 18 August 2009
League One
Home Team
Score
Away Team
Time
Colchester
2-1
Gillingham
FT
(HT 1-1)
Vernon 38
Lisbie 66
Weston 11
Colchester
01 Williams
03 Beevers
04 Okuonghae
05 Baldwin
23 Tierney
10 Izzet
11 Hackney (Perkins 90)
14 Fox
29 Vernon
07 Vincent (Thomas 81)
20 Lisbie (Wordsworth 90+2)
Substitutes
12 Cousins,
02 Maybury,
16 Holt,
17 Perkins,
22 Wordsworth,
33 Malton,
19 Thomas
Gillingham
23 Julian
03 Nutter
06 Richards
16 Gowling
02 Fuller
08 Bentley (Erskine 85)
14 Miller
26 Weston
28 Payne
10 Jackson
11 Barcham
Substitutes
01 Royce,
22 Wynter,
07 Maher,
09 Palmer,
27 Rooney,
19 Erskine,
30 McCammon
Ref: HegleyAtt: 4,849
COLCHESTER
GILLINGHAM
Possession
Colchester54%
Gillingham46%
Attempts on target
Colchester8
Gillingham2
Attempts off target
Colchester6
Gillingham5
Corners
Colchester6
Gillingham4
Fouls
Colchester11
Gillingham8
Final Result
Full Time
90:00+3:22 The referee blows for the end of the match.
90:00+3:08 Joel Thomas takes a shot. Save by Alan Julian.
90:00+2:16 Effort from close in by Adam Miller goes wide left of the target.
90:00+1:08 Alan Julian takes the free kick.
90:00+1:08 Substitution Anthony Wordsworth replaces Kevin Lisbie.
90:00+1:08 Joel Thomas concedes a free kick for a foul on Curtis Weston.
89:06 Alan Julian takes the free kick.
89:06 Substitution Simon Hackney goes off and David Perkins comes on.
89:06 Unfair challenge on John Nutter by Joel Thomas results in a free kick.
88:09 Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Joel Thomas by Jack Payne. Simon Hackney fires a strike on goal direct from the free kick, save made by Alan Julian.
87:28 Corner taken left-footed by John Nutter from the left by-line, save by Ben Williams.
85:45 Free kick awarded for a foul by Jacob Erskine on Marc Tierney. Marc Tierney takes the free kick.
84:44 Substitution Jacob Erskine joins the action as a substitute, replacing Mark Bentley.
82:50 Adam Miller produces a right-footed shot from a long way out which goes wide right of the goal.
82:06 Kemal Izzet challenges Adam Miller unfairly and gives away a free kick. John Nutter takes the direct free kick.
80:38 Substitution Joel Thomas joins the action as a substitute, replacing Ashley Vincent.
80:19 Kemal Izzet challenges Adam Miller unfairly and gives away a free kick. Free kick taken by Jack Payne.
76:58 Effort on goal by Ashley Vincent from deep inside the area goes harmlessly over the bar.
75:14 Josh Gowling challenges Kevin Lisbie unfairly and gives away a free kick. David Fox has an effort direct from the free kick, Alan Julian makes a save.
72:37 Unfair challenge on Curtis Weston by Simon Hackney results in a free kick. Direct free kick taken by Alan Julian.
71:56 Kevin Lisbie fouled by Curtis Weston, the ref awards a free kick. Free kick crossed left-footed by Simon Hackney.
71:40 David Fox takes a shot.
70:57 Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Kemal Izzet by Jack Payne. Pat Baldwin takes the direct free kick.
70:02 Close range header by Kevin Lisbie goes over the bar.
68:53 Kevin Lisbie is caught offside. Alan Julian takes the free kick.
65:02 The assist for the goal came from Scott Vernon.
65:02 GOAL - Kevin Lisbie:Colchester 2 - 1 Gillingham Kevin Lisbie fires in a goal from inside the box to the top right corner of the goal. Colchester 2-1 Gillingham.
60:11 Unfair challenge on Mark Bentley by Marc Tierney results in a free kick. Free kick crossed left-footed by John Nutter from right channel.
58:48 The offside flag is raised against Simeon Jackson. Free kick taken by Ben Williams.
56:33 Simon Hackney gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Curtis Weston. Free kick crossed by John Nutter, Ben Williams makes a save.
55:13 Andy Barcham produces a right-footed shot from the edge of the box and misses to the right of the target.
48:39 Unfair challenge on Lee Beevers by Andy Barcham results in a free kick. Lee Beevers restarts play with the free kick.
45:01 The referee starts the second half.
Half Time
45:00+1:23 The whistle is blown to end the first half.
45:00+0:59 Outswinging corner taken from the left by-line by John Nutter, Ben Williams makes a save.
43:31 John Nutter takes a short corner.
41:43 Corner taken right-footed by David Fox from the left by-line, Alan Julian makes a save.
40:50 Unfair challenge on David Fox by Adam Miller results in a free kick. Free kick taken by David Fox.
39:07 Corner taken by David Fox played to the near post, Josh Gowling manages to make a clearance.
37:03 The assist for the goal came from Kevin Lisbie.
37:03 GOAL - Scott Vernon:Colchester 1 - 1 Gillingham Scott Vernon finds the back of the net with a goal from inside the penalty box low into the middle of the goal. Colchester 1-1 Gillingham.
35:30 Adam Miller produces a right-footed shot from the edge of the box and misses to the right of the goal.
34:51 Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Garry Richards by Kevin Lisbie. Free kick taken by Barry Fuller.
32:53 Foul by Simon Hackney on Barry Fuller, free kick awarded. Free kick taken by Barry Fuller.
32:02 Unfair challenge on Josh Gowling by Scott Vernon results in a free kick. Alan Julian restarts play with the free kick.
31:28 The official flags Simeon Jackson offside. Free kick taken by Ben Williams.
29:39 Effort from outside the penalty box by Ashley Vincent goes wide right of the target.
29:22 Short corner taken by David Fox from the left by-line.
29:05 Adam Miller challenges David Fox unfairly and gives away a free kick. David Fox restarts play with the free kick.
28:15 Effort from deep inside the area by Adam Miller clears the bar.
27:23 Kevin Lisbie produces a right-footed shot from just outside the box that goes wide left of the target.
23:40 Kevin Lisbie is flagged offside by the assistant referee. Garry Richards restarts play with the free kick.
Correction - 22:03 Alan Julian is adjudged to have handled the ball. David Fox fires a strike on goal direct from the free kick, blocked by Mark Bentley.
22:03 Alan Julian is penalised for handball and concedes a free kick. David Fox restarts play with the free kick.
21:20 Effort on goal by Simon Hackney from just outside the penalty area goes harmlessly over the target.
20:51 Outswinging corner taken by David Fox, Andy Barcham makes a clearance.
14:50 David Fox takes a inswinging corner.
12:41 Inswinging corner taken from the right by-line by John Nutter, Josh Gowling takes a shot. Blocked by Lee Beevers.
10:36 The assist for the goal came from John Nutter.
10:36 GOAL - Curtis Weston:Colchester 0 - 1 Gillingham Curtis Weston finds the net with a goal from close range low into the middle of the goal. Colchester 0-1 Gillingham.
6:39 David Fox takes a shot. Alan Julian makes a save.
5:53 Corner taken by David Fox.
5:35 Scott Vernon takes a shot. Blocked by Barry Fuller.
1:53 Free kick awarded for a foul by Marc Tierney on Mark Bentley. John Nutter crosses the ball from the free kick left-footed from right wing.
0:00 The game kicks-off.
Live text and data provided by The Press Association.
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